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One
Jackson
God! I fucking hurt.
Carrying Katie out of that basement nearly broke me. I was still feverish and sweating. Sweat poured into my wounds. My whole body was burning. My shoulders felt loose from where I’d hung from them for God knows how long.
How fucking long has it been?
One day? Two?
Her sobs broke my heart. I felt so useless. Failure burned through my veins. Watching him violate her was worse than anything they did to me.
Getting us into the truck without hurting her was impossible. I wasn’t sure, but her hip and shoulder seemed dislocated. I was worried about her circulation. I knew dislocations could cause circulation issues, but there was no time to check. We had to get away.
I just needed to focus on getting us out of here.
At the end of the driveway, I sat idling, trying to decide which way to go. On one hand, I didn’t know if I could trust Neil. On the other, he let us go. That told me to trust him enough to get away, so I turned left.
The tires of the pickup ate up the pavement. Quickly. I wasn’t wasting any time.
Several miles down the road, I saw the signs for I-81 North, just like he said. Taking a chance I merged onto the interstate, praying I wasn’t making a mistake. I needed to get Katie to a hospital. Hell, I needed to get myself to a hospital.
I was worried about my wounds as well.
I’d been fucking shot. Twice.
I’d been running a fever since I came to, probably even before that. It didn’t seem too high because I wasn’t feeling lethargic. Of course, that could be the adrenaline.
As I threaded my fingers through Katie’s hair, I could almost feel her mind spinning. I had a sneaking suspicion that she blamed herself, and I wouldn’t have that. A multitude of shit had led us to this point in time.
If anyone was at fault, it was me and the chief.
“I can hear your mind whirling, darlin’,” I whispered.
The emotion in my voice made me sound like a frog had taken up residence in my throat.
She didn’t respond. Her sobs stopped once we put some distance between us and that hellhole. Now tears just rained down her face, soaking my jeans.
I didn’t know what was worse: her sobs, her whimpers, or her silence. I kept running my fingers through her hair while she lay her head on my thigh and her arms wrapped around my leg as much as possible.
She shivered off and on, but I was afraid of touching her any more than I already had. I knew she knew I would never hurt her, but in my mind, running my fingers through her hair was okay. I didn’t think rubbing her arms or back would be welcome.
When she shivered again, I ran hand my hand over her arm. It wasn’t cold out, so I didn’t think it was the temperature. Of course, I felt feverish, so it could be.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, I noticed a blue sign on the side of the road. “There’s a hospital up ahead.”
She nodded but didn’t make a sound. Tears still rolled down her face, though.
I pulled the truck into the Emergency Room parking lot.
I turned off the ignition and asked, “How do you want to do this?”
I felt her swallow against my thigh and pull her left hand up to wipe the tears from her face. I didn’t think she would answer me, but she said quietly, “I’m not sure there’s an appropriate way to do this, you know?”
Damn, she’s so fucking strong.
Tears welled up in my eyes and clogged my throat; I whispered, “I guess you’re right.” Sighing heavily, I asked. “Do you want me to carry you, or do you want me to get someone?”
